Researching Early Childhood Education: Voices from Malta
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Researching Early Childhood Education: Voices from Malta Researching Early Childhood Education: Voices from Malta Editors: Peter Clough, Cathy Nutbrown, Jools Page University of Sheffield. School of Education Editorial Assistant : Karen Kitchen University of Sheffield. School of Education Cover image: Sue Mifsud Midolo St Catherine’s High School, Pembroke, Malta © 2012 The University of Sheffield and individual authors The University of Sheffield, School of Education, 388 Glossop Road, Sheffield, S10 2JA, UK email: [email protected] ii © 2012 The University of Sheffield and individual authors Researching Early Childhood Education: Voices from Malta Researching Early Childhood Education: Voices from Malta CONTENTS Preface Professor Valerie Sollars iv A note from the editors vi About the authors vii PART 1 CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCES 2 Revisiting my childhood: reflections on life choices Vicky Bugeja 3 Are you listening to me? Young children’s views of their childcare Karen Abela 21 setting Moving on to First grade: two children’s experiences Marvic Friggieri 40 “…And she appears to be invisible…” Imaginary companions and Christina Pace 58 children’s creativity Two of a kind?: A baby with Down Syndrome and his typically Laura Busuttil 75 developing twin. Living with Asthma at home and school Claire Grech 101 PART II LITERACY HOME AND SCHOOL 131 Five Maltese Mothers talk about their role in children’s early literacy Caroline Bonavia 132 development The impact of the home literacy environment on a child’s literacy Maria Camilleri 153 development Home and kindergarten Influences on the emergent literacy skills of a 4-Elizabeth Jones 167 year-old girl. Literacy at home in a digital age Josette Bezzina 196 Blogging in the Kindergarten Gabriella Govus 215 Mind the gap: Preschool boys’ experiences of literacy at home and Julie Mangion 230 school PART III ADULT ROLES IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION SETTINGS 251 Male teachers in early years education Melanie Darmanin 252 The impact of leadership on young children’s motivation and Louise Micallef 268 achievement at school © 2012 The University of Sheffield and individual authors iii Researching Early Childhood Education: Voices from Malta PREFACE The publication of this collection of research essays focusing on various aspects of early childhood education in Malta is testimony to the steadily growing interest in the field of early years in the local context. Malta cannot really boast of a long history in Early Childhood Education since the local tradition and Catholic upbringing of the vast majority of the population embraced an approach whereby children were raised at home within the family, predominantly looked after by the mother with the father affirming his position as the breadwinner. This was certainly the case until the mid-seventies when kindergarten provision for four-year-olds was introduced in all state schools and later extended to three-year-olds in the late eighties. Around the same time, the first child-day care centres were beginning to appear as efforts were made to increase the presence of women in the labour market. Fast forward to 2012 and we now have about 50 child day-care centres with more planned to open in the near future. We also have well-over 95% attendance rate at kindergarten, covering three to five-year-olds and compulsory education starts in the year a child turns five. Thus, children growing up in Malta today spend a substantial amount of time in very diverse early years settings. The experiences and provision shaping early childhood education and care are thus of interest not only to children themselves, parents and practitioners as immediate stake-holders, but to researchers and policy makers who can have an impact on improving the quality of the experiences which, in the long run, will influence the lives of the children as they develop into responsible citizens. Research, publications, documentation and academic recognition for early childhood education and care are all relatively recent milestones. Two important documents were published in 2006 – the publication of the National Policy for the sector was an attempt at providing a vision and recommendations towards a holistic view to the iv © 2012 The University of Sheffield and individual authors Researching Early Childhood Education: Voices from Malta early years, bridging the gap between child care and kindergarten; kindergarten and the first formal years of compulsory schooling. The publication of the Child-day care standards sought to provide a framework and guidelines to ensure that the quality of provision was raised. More recently, the proposed National Curriculum Framework (2011) has recognised the importance of the early years and a curriculum framework for the sector, separate from that of the primary years has been drawn up. The introduction of a joint European Masters degree in Early Childhood Education and Care in 2007 and the introduction of an undergraduate degree in Early Childhood Education in 2009, both at the University of Malta and the Masters of Arts in Early Childhood Education by the University of Sheffield offered through an independent school are all testimony to the interest which the sector is garnering in the local context. This collection of research essays reflects a range of topics related to early childhood education in the local context and is indeed a welcome publication: it serves to present snapshots of issues and perspectives which predominantly contribute to the field at a national level. This in itself is of particular relevance to the local researchers and practitioners. However, the publication is of value to the wider research community, which can gain insights and understand the cultural, social and educational underpinnings that contribute to early childhood education and care in Malta. Such insights allow for a universal sharing of information with the possibility of enabling comparative studies in the field of early years. Professor Valerie Sollars Dean, Faculty of Education Associate Professor in Early Childhood Education Department of Primary Education Faculty of Education University of Malta © 2012 The University of Sheffield and individual authors v Researching Early Childhood Education: Voices from Malta April 2012 A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS We are delighted to present this collection of fourteen essays written by students of the MA in Early Childhood Education. The graduates of the MA programme whose work features in this electronic book have been studying with us whilst living and working in Malta. The MA in Early Childhood Education is a unique, internationally renowned course, which has been running successfully in the UK since 1998, designed for a range of early childhood professionals including: early years practitioners, FE and HE lecturers, teachers, nursery nurses, preschool assistants, voluntary and independent providers, advisors, inspectors and managers working in areas relevant to early childhood. Students from around the world, including: Japan, India, Malta, Czech Republic, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Cyprus and Vietnam have successfully completed this distance learning course which covers a broad range of issues, encourages students to reflect on their practice, on current policy, and addresses theory and research relevant to their interest. In October 2009 the first students enrolled on our Malta-based Post Graduate programme and we have been pleased to work with them at study schools held at St Catherine’s School, Pembroke, Malta. Their graduation in January 2012 marked an important stage in the development of our Malta programme and the publication of this book provides an opportunity for those with an interest in early childhood education, and our future students to learn from the work they have done. We want to thank all the authors featured here for their willingness to share their work more widely and Professor Valerie Sollars of the University of Malta for her opening words. Karen Kitchen has been a patient and efficient editorial assistant throughout the process. Finally, we pay tribute to our local partner, Ms Sue Mifsud Midolo of St Catherine’s High School for her continued encouragement and support to us and to our students. Professor Peter Clough, Professor Cathy Nutbrown, Dr Jools Page The University of Sheffield, School of Education vi © 2012 The University of Sheffield and individual authors Researching Early Childhood Education: Voices from Malta ABOUT THE AUTHORS My first work experience was as a nanny for a newborn baby girl and her two elder brothers; this and the joys of motherhood helped me determine that working with very young children was the path I wanted to pursue. I completed a childcare course qualifying as a childcarer, worked in a pre- school nursery and ran my own home-based playgroup for eight years. My current employment is in a childcare centre which forms part of a large school, my first four years were spent as a childcarer and I have since been Karen Abela promoted to assistant director of the childcare centre, a position that I have held for the past two years. To further enhance my knowledge within this field I decided to read for a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education with the University of Sheffield, UK. My research focused on using various strategies to give children the opportunity to voice their opinions about their childcare centre. Graduating with an MA has stabilized my position within the school. My learning journey with the University of Sheffield has been an incredible and unforgettable experience! Until recently I was a Complementary Teacher helping learners aged five to ten years who had fallen behind in literacy. I am currently Head of Department for literacy in the Primary Years. My work includes discussing with teachers and the Senior Management Team matters regarding literacy. My MA research was focused on the kind of literacy practices that parents and their five-year old children engage in at home. Josette Bezzina Having worked in the financial sector for twenty years and my interest in parents’ involvement in their child’s literacy development emerged when my son was one year old.